A Practical Course in British English Pronunciation FREE ...pronunciationlondon.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/The-Sound-of-English... · A Practical Course in British English Pronunciation

by Joseph Hudson

Self Study or Classroom Use9 Chapters with Full Answer Key

The Sound

of English

A Practical Course in British English Pronunciation

FREE SAMPLEChapter 1pdf + mp3

Written & Produced at the Pronunciation Studio

1 Introduction2 How to use the book.3 IPA Chart

Index1 Introduction2 How to use the book.3 IPA Chart




Chapter/Page Sounds Sound

Comparison Spelling & Sound

14 - 15

5-6 Consonants7-8 Vowels - 9 ‘ghoti’ Introduction

10 Schwa

216 - 27

17-18 Fricative Consonants 19-20 θ vs ð 21-22 < s > Endings

328 - 39

29-30 Long Vowels 31-32 ɪ vs i: 33-34 Silent < r >

440 - 51

41-42 Plosive Consonants

43-44 Glottal Stop vs /t/ 45-46 < ed > Endings

552 - 63

53-54 Short Vowels55 /h/ Fricative - 56 < h > Function

57-58 Silent Letters

664 - 75

65-66 Approximant Consonants

67 Weak ə vs ɪ68 Weak ɪ vs i 69-70 < oo >

776 - 87

77-80 Diphthong Vowel Sounds - 81-82< o >

888 - 99

89-90 Nasal Consonants 91-92 ŋ vs ŋg 93-94 < a >

9100 - 111

101-102 Affricate Consonants

103-104 Long vs Short Vowels

105-106 Contractions

112 -130 Answer Key131-132 Glossary133 Acknowledgements & Further Reading134 About the Author, Voices & School




Structure Intonation Postscript

11 Function / Content12 Schwa Function

13 Patterns14 Usage 15 IPA

23-24 Schwa Function Words

25-26 Sentence Stress & Tonic Syllable 27 Homographs

35-36 2 Syllable Words 37-38 Wh- Questions 39 Homophones

47-48 3 Syllable Words

49-50 Yes/No Questions 51 Silent Syllables

59-60 Joining 61-62 Prominence 62-63 Verb/Noun Stress

71-72 Vowel Joining 73-74 Question Tags 75 ‘have’

83-84 Compounds 85-86 High-fall 87 ‘do’

95-96 Double Stress Compounds 97-98 Fall-rise 99 ‘are’

107-108 Stress Shift 109-110 Adverbials 111 Phrasal Verbs

© Joseph Hudson 2011-2012

Every chapter is split into the following sections:- Sounds: how to pronounce vowels and consonants.- Sound Comparison: focus on difficult sounds that are often confusing.- Spelling & Sound: how to turn written English into speech.- Structure: how English joins together and the weak/strong structure.- Intonation: the use of pitch and stress in speech.

Most activities come with audio files to practise with. These are indicated with the following symbol in the left margin: Every page of the course contains up to three parts: NOTES, EXERCISES and DRILLS as follows:

NOTES

✦ All notes appear in grey boxes like this one.✦ Here you will find the rules and production notes for each section.

EXERCISES

- Complete the exercises and check your answers with the audio or answer key.- The answer key is found in the back of the book on pages 113-130.

DRILLS

- Repeat drills regularly with the recording until they become easy to produce.- There is space on the recordings to repeat after each sentence or sound.

EXTRA MATERIALS & CLASSES

- Many of the exercises in ‘The Sound of English’ have extra practice activities available to download from our website, visit: www.thesoundofenglish.org

- You can also find information about where to study the course with qualified teachers on the website.

How to Use the Book

9.3

2 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012

http://www.thesoundofenglish.org


✦ IPA is phonetic script, it show us the sounds to pronounce rather than spelling.✦ The script is very useful for improving accuracy in pronunciation.✦ You will learn each sound and its possible spellings on the course.

IPA Chart

*Before beginning, download the free audio pack from www.thesoundofenglish.org/

Sounds- Consonants - Vowels

Spelling & Sound

‘ghoti’ Schwa

l+"16

:t1f

:.r f .'ll't't' / ' \W\- ..- _

- ,, )/

StructureFunction & Content

IntonationPatternsUsage ↘↘↗↗

Postscript IPA /ˈpɜ:sənli/Answer Key Pages 113-114Answer Key Pages 113-114Answer Key Pages 113-114

Chapter 1

Before beginning, download the free mp3 audio pack from: www.thesoundofenglish.org/free.html

http://www.thesoundofenglish.org/free.html

http://www.thesoundofenglish.org/free.html

✦ Consonant sounds are produced by blocking air as it leaves the mouth.✦ This course shows you how to pronounce all 25 consonant sounds of English.✦ Below is an example of each consonant sound - listen and read them.

1.3 1.3

1.3

Consonant Types | Sound

Type of Sound Sound Example 1 Example 2

plosive (complete block of air followed by explosion)

p

b

t

d

k

g

ʔ

pin

bag

time

door

cash

girl

-

cap

robe

late

feed

sock

flag

football

fricative(constant flow of air “squeezed” through a block, sounds like friction)

f

v

θ

ð

s

z

ʃ

ʒ

h

full

vest

think

those

sight

zoo

shirt

-

high

knife

cave

earth

bathe

kiss

nose

crash

pleasure

-

affricate(plosive followed by fricative)

tʃ

dʒ

chose

joy

catch

stage

nasal(air is released through the nose)

m

n

ŋ

mood

now

-

calm

turn

bang

approximant(vowel-like consonant, no full block of air occurs)

w

j

r

l / ɫ

wall

yellow

room

law

-

-

-

pill

1.1


✦ We use the articulators: tongue, lips, & teeth, to block air.✦ The places where we block air in English are shown below.

EXERCISE

- Listen to the recording and match the sounds in the boxes with their articulation diagrams (the first one has been done). The arrows point to the place of articulation.

- Check your answers in the answer key on page 112.

Consonant Articulation | Sound

f / v m / p / b θ / ð k / g / ŋ t / d / l / n h / ʔ

lips

teeth

tongue

alveolar ridge

palate

velum

glottis

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

1.2


✦ A neutral English accent has 19 vowel sounds.✦ There are 3 types of English vowel sound - short, long and diphthong.✦ English spelling does not always show us which sound to pronounce.✦ We will learn how to pronounce each individual vowel sound on this course.

1

2

Vowels | Sounds

Type of Sound Sound Spellings Examples

short

(single mouth position)

ə

ɪ

ʊ

e

ʌ

æ

ɒ

a, e, o, u

i

u, oo, ou

e, ea, ie

u, o

a

o, a

alive, the, today, supply

thin, sit, rich

put, look, should

went, bread, friend

fun, love, money

cat, hand, fan

rob, top, watch

long

(single mouth position)

i:

u:

ɜ:

ɔ:

ɑ:

ee, ea

ew, oo, o_e

ir, ur, wor

al, aw, or, our, oor

a, al, ar

need, beat, team

few, boot, lose

third, turn, worse

talk, law, port

glass, half, car

diphthong (double mouth position)

eɪ

ɔɪ

aɪ

əʊ

aʊ

ɪə

eə

ay, ea, ae, ai

oi, oy

ie, i_e, i, y

o, o_e, oa

ou, ow

eer, ear

are, ere, ea, ai

pay, great, maid

noise, toy, choice

fine, like, might

no, stone, road

round, how, brown

beer, hear, steer

care, there, bear

1.3


✦ A vowel sound is made by shaping the mouth as air flows out.✦ Articulators used to shape the mouth are: tongue, lips and jaw.✦ The chart below shows examples of mouth positions in English.

DRILL

- Repeat the following sentences. Notice your jaw opening each time.

1. Keep this red bag. 2. Who took Paul’s watch? 3. The bird runs fast.

- Which sentence contains only rounded vowels?

Vowel Articulation| Sounds

PositionPositionPosition

Example tongue lips jaw

i: (keep)

front spread close

ɜ: (bird)

mid relaxed mid

ɒ (watch)

back rounded open

1.4

1.5


- English spelling does not always indicate pronunciation.- It was famously claimed that the word ‘fish’ could be spelt ‘ghoti’ because:

‘gh’ in ‘enough‘ is pronounced /f/‘o’ in ‘women’ is pronounced /ɪ/

‘ti’ in ‘motion’ is pronounced /ʃ/

so ‘ghoti’ could be pronounced /fɪʃ/!

✦ The pronunciation of many English sounds can be predicted by their spelling.✦ The ‘Spelling & Sound’ section shows you how to select sounds accurately by interpreting spelling.

EXERCISE

- Each group of words contains an identical spelling. - Circle the word that you think is pronounced differently from the others.

1. goose loose choose

2. nose rose lose

3. played stopped liked

4. father author Northern

5. paid maid said

6. put but hut

7. none done gone

8. foot book food

9. slow now cow

10. word work worn

11. watch wall was

- Listen and check your answers.

Introduction | Spelling & Sound

l+"16

:t1f

:.r f .'ll't't' / ' \W\- ..- _

- ,, )/

1.6

1.7


- Match the words below with the IPA transcription on the right:

- Which sound appears in every IPA transcription?

✦ The schwa sound /əә/ can be spelt as < a >, < e >, < o > and < u >.✦ The schwa is the most common vowel sound in English.✦ The schwa is weak - it can never be stressed.✦ The production of the schwa is neutral: lips, jaw and tongue are relaxed

EXERCISE

- Every word in the box below contains one schwa sound.- Listen to the recording and underline the schwa in each word.

- Think of any word in English with 3 syllables or more. - How many schwa sounds does it contain? Check in a dictionary.

EXAMPLE: ‘conspiracy’ = 2 schwa sounds.

6

Schwa | Spelling & Sound

Word IPA Transcription

around ˈmænə

manner ˈseɪlə

sailor ˈkæktəs

cactus əˈraʊnd

servant persist bacon picture commit alive jumper sublime London salad Peru structure suggest soldier persuade combine balloon terror cushion scripture tighten sofa Russia

fe?)x)/_ _ _

1.8

1.9

1.10


- Listen to the sentence below:

“Shall we go for a walk?”

- Which words are stressed? Why?

✦ Spoken English is divided into function and content words.✦ Function words carry only grammatical meaning, such as:

✦ Content words carry real meaning such as:

EXERCISE

- In the sentences below, underline the function words:

1.Can we go for a swim in the sea?2. It’s a beautiful day in the South of England.3.How do you want to pay for this, sir?4. Jessica Smith is required in ‘Arrivals’ immediately.5.When you get to the station, give me a call.6.Would you like some of my carrot cake?

Function & Content | Structure

Word Type Examples

prepositions to from for of with by

auxiliaries are was do have could would shall can

articles a an the

quantifiers some any few all

pronouns he she it you I this that

Word Type Examples

nouns car wedding James table joy

verbs move drink turn enjoy think

adjectives big interesting quiet slow bright

adverbs quickly quietly fortunately often again

1.12

1.11


- Read and listen to the passage below, the schwa sound is written in IPA:

I’d like təә go shopping fəәr əә pair əәf shoes, bəәt thəә shops əә closed becəәse thəәs əә weathəәr əәlert. əәparrəәntly lots əәf snow is coming in frəәm thəә Highləәnds so thəә govəәrnməәnt həәv əәdvised peopəәl təә stay əәt home.

- Which function words are pronounced with a schwa sound in the passage?

✦ Many function words are pronounced with schwa when they are weak.✦ If a function word is stressed, it can not be pronounced with schwa.✦ Function words are always strong when said alone.

DRILL

- Say the word on the left alone (strong), then say it in the sentence on the right using the schwa sound (weak):

Schwa Function Words | Structure

Word (STRONG)

Word (STRONG)

Sentence (WEAK)

1 to /tu:/ I went to work early. /tə/

2 are /ɑ:/ What are you doing? /ə/

3 was /wɒz/ Was it warm in Greece? /wəz/

4 from /frɒm/ This cardʼs from my family. /frəm/

5 there /ðeə/ There werenʼt enough drinks. /ðə/

6 can /kæn/ Where can we buy a map? /kən/

7 her /hɜ:/ Her carʼs broken down. /hə/

8 for /fɔ:/ Iʼll repeat for the last time! /fə/

1.13

1.14


- Listen to the following question being answered in three different ways:

A Johnny, have you finished your homework?

B

- Which answer (B) means i) maybe ii) definitely iii) why are you asking me?

•Spoken English uses 3 intonation patterns - fall, fall-rise & rise.

•Intonation shows us the speaker’s attitude to what they are saying.

DRILL

- Repeat after the recording:

1. a)↘Yes b)↘↗Yes c)↗Yes

2. a)↘No b)↘↗No c)↗No

EXERCISE

- Listen to the conversations and circle the answer you hear:

1. Are you married? Yes ↘ ↘↗ ↗2. Did you enjoy the !lm? Yes ↘ ↘↗ ↗3. Can you afford this meal? Yes ↘ ↘↗ ↗4. You’re drunk, aren’t you? No ↘ ↘↗ ↗5. Is this your !rst class? No ↘ ↘↗ ↗6. Did you eat all the chocolate? No ↘ ↘↗ ↗

Introduction | Intonation

1. ↘Yes

2. ↘↗Yes3. ↗Yes

1.15

1.16

1.17


✦ Intonation shows us a speakers’ attitude to their words.✦ This course will show you how to produce English intonation in your speech.✦ Some important examples of intonation usage are displayed below.

EXERCISE

1. ATTITUDE

- Listen to the following conversation twice:

A “Dad, I’ve got some news, I’m getting married!” B “Excellent”

i) How is the father’s reaction different in each case?ii) How does he show this with intonation?

2. IMPLICATION

- Listen to the following conversation twice:

A “What did you think of the film?” B “It was good.”

i) What is the difference in meaning between the two versions? ii) How is the intonation in the word ‘good’ different the second time?

3. REPETITION

Listen to the following conversation:

A “Who are you meeting tonight?” B “Nicole Kidman”.”A “Who are you meeting tonight?” B “Not the Nicole Kidman!”

- Person A says the same question twice, but the intonation is different the second time. How does it change and why?

Usage | Intonation

1.18

1.19

1.20


- Look at the dictionary entry for the word “personally”:

- What differences do you notice between the spelt and the IPA versions?

✦ IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) shows the way we pronounce words.✦ In English, the pronunciation of a word often differs from its spelling, making IPA a very useful study tool to improve your pronunciation.✦ Stress is marked in IPA using the following symbol / ˈ/

EXERCISE

i) Write the words from the box below into the chart next to their IPA transcription.ii) Write the silent consonant from each word into the 3rd column.

- Listen to the recording to check your answers and practise saying the words.

IPA | Postscript

cupboard island half often write know light lamb handbag autumn

personally /ˈpɜ:sənli/

Word IPA Silent Consonant(s)

1 autumn ˈɔ:təәm n

2 half hɑ:f l

3 læm

4 nəәʊ

5 ˈaɪləәnd

6 laɪt

7 ˈkʌbəәd

8 raɪt

9 ˈɒfəәn

10 ˈhænbæg

1.21


Answer KeyChapter Pages

1 113 - 114

2 115 - 116

3 117 - 118

4 119 - 120

5 121 - 122

6 123 - 124

7 125 - 126

8 127 - 128

9 129 - 130


Consonant Articulation | Sounds

EXERCISE1. f/v 2. t/d/l/n 3. m/p/b 4. k/g/ŋ 5. θ/ð 6. h/ʔ

EXERCISE - sentence 2 ʻWho took Paulʼs watchʼ uses only rounded vowels.

Introduction | Spelling & Sound

EXERCISE1. choose 2. lose 3. played 4. author 5. said 6. put 7. gone 8. food 9. slow 10. worn 11. wall

Schwa | Spelling & Sound

- around /əˈraʊnd/, manner /ˈmænə/, sailor /ˈseɪlə/, cactus /ˈkæktəs/- /ə/ appears in every IPA transcription (in bold above).

EXERCISE

Function & Content | Structure

- ʻgoʼ and ʻwalkʼ are stressed because they carry meaning.- The other words ʻshallʼ, ʻweʼ, ʻforʼ, & ʻaʼ are all grammatical words used to gel the

sentence.

EXERCISE1. Can we go for a swim in the sea?2. Itʼs a beautiful day in the South of England.3. How do you want to pay for this sir?4. Jessica Smith is required in ʻArrivalsʼ immediately.5. When you get to the station, give me a call.6. Would you like some of my carrot cake?

Schwa Function Words | Structure

- Function words pronounced with schwa in the passage: ʻtoʼ, ʻforʼ, ʻaʼ, ʻofʼ, ʻbutʼ, ʻtheʼ, ʻareʼ, ʻthereʼ, ʻaʼ, ʻhaveʼ, ʻatʼ.

Answer Key | Chapter 1

servant persist bacon picture commit alive jumper sublime London salad Peru structure

suggest soldier persuade combine balloon terror cushion scripture tighten sofa Russia


Introduction | Intonation- i) ʻMaybeʼ = ↘↗yes ii) ʻDefinitelyʼ = ↘yes iii) ʻWhy are you asking?ʼ = ↗yes.

EXERCISE1.↘ 2. ↘↗ 3. ↗ 4. ↗ 5. ↘ 6. ↘↗

Usage | Intonation

EXERCISE1. ATTITUDEi) In the first version, the father is excited and interested, in the second he is uninterested

and a little rude.ii) The fatherʼs intonation is falling in both examples, the main difference is that he starts

from a much higher pitch in the first example. This shows more emotion. In the second version, he starts his phrase quite low, showing disinterest.

2. IMPLICATIONi) In the first version, we understand that person B really felt the film was good. In the second version, he is not entirely sure, he is showing reservation, we are expecting him to say something less positive now.ii) In the first version, person B uses falling intonation on ʻit was goodʼ, whereas in the

second version he uses fall-rising intonation, known as an implicational fall-rise.

3. REPETITION- The first question is asking for new information, person A does not know the answer and uses falling intonation. The second time she asks, she already knows the answer, she is repeating the question and for this reason uses rising intonation.

IPA | Postscript

- The IPA version shows us a silent < r >, a long vowel /:/ and a silent < a >. It also indicates the pronunciation of the vowels /ə/ and /i/.

EXERCISE

Answer Key | Chapter 1

1 autumn ɔ:təm n

2 half hɑ:f l

3 lamb læm b

4 know nəʊ k (and w)

5 island aɪlənd s

6 light laɪt gh

7 cupboard ˈkʌbəd p (and r)

8 write raɪt w

9 often ɒfən t

10 handbag hænbæg d


Now you have completed the free sample, you have started on the road to improving your English pronunciation. Here are some options for continuing:

1. Download the full course 9 Chapters (140 pages + full audio) and study the course yourself. The full course pack costs £15.00 and can be downloaded instantly, visit:

www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk/materials.html

2. Join ‘The Sound of English’ Group Classes in central London, daily 17:30-19:00 and Saturdays 10:00 - 13:00. The entire course book is covered, classes cost:

£20 / 1 Class | £90 / 5 Classes | £175 / 10 Classes | £300 / 20 Classes

Visit www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk/sessions.html for dates and booking.

Intensive courses also: www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk/intensive.html

3. Study with expert IPA Certified teachers at the Pronunciation Studio speech school in London both individually and in small groups.

The school offers accent reduction, elocution, voice and advanced courses.Visit www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk for full details.

What to do now?

http://www.thesoundofenglish.org/shop.html

http://www.thesoundofenglish.org/shop.html

http://www.thesoundofenglish.org/classes.html

http://www.thesoundofenglish.org/classes.html

http://www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk

http://www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk

THE AUTHOR

Joseph Hudson (BA/CELTA/IPA Cert) is a teacher and writer based in London. He founded the Pronunciation Studio Speech school in 2007. His early career was as a general English teacher, where he learnt the rudiments of language learning. He is the author of the courses ‘An English Accent’ and ‘The Sound of English’.

THE RECORDINGS

The audio pack features the voice of Erica Buist (BA/CELTA/IPA Cert) alongside the author. Erica is an experienced and vibrant classroom teacher. She has taught general English and pronunciation in Central America and England and joined the Pronunciation Studio in 2009. Her voice skills are notably clear and warm.

THE SCHOOL

Pronunciation Studio London provides education in all aspects of speech from phonetics, pronunciation and accent reduction to voice coaching and acting classes. Over 10,000 students have passed through its doors since 2007. Creative teaching, exciting materials, a passion for language learning in general and phonetics in particular are central to its popularity.

Visit the Pronunciation Studio at www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk.


www.thesoundofenglish.org



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A Practical Course in British English Pronunciation FREE ...pronunciationlondon.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/The-Sound-of-English... · A Practical Course in British English Pronunciation